The Beginning
by kaededainetohru
Summary: Beth Martinez is pulled into Tamora Pierce's world by mistake. It soon comes clear that Tortall needs her just as much as she needs it. Beth must use her knowledge to confront a new threat and learn to once again open her heart. Thom, Alanna's son/OC
1. Prologue

Prologue

_The beginning_

_Dublin, May 15, 2009 _

I had lived in Dublin for a year and a half now, studying at the University. Every morning, _every_ _morning_, for the last 591 days, including Christmas', Easters and New Year's Eves, I had the same routine. Wake up. Make tea. Put tea in container. Go to the library (thanks to all those former scholars for their foresight in keeping it open everyday of the year). Study for the most part; read if there is no studying to be done. Every day. Except for today.

What was I thinking? _Oh, Beth, you should take a break, even if you do enjoy the smell and solitude of the library. Treat yourself to breakfast and tea. Read in the park on such a beautiful sunshiny day. _Right. That was stupid. Now I'm cowered here in the sudden rain, thinking about making a dash for the nearest café or store, or maybe just home. My beloved Alanna is in dire need of a trip to Doctor Blow-dryer's, a shower for me wouldn't hurt, and I have Japanese in two hours. Lovely job, Beth. Absolutely _stunning_.

And it was as I was finally getting up the courage to dash out from beneath the tree; I felt the sharp pain in the back of my head and blacked out. I remember two things. Two voices to be specific. One, with a thick Irish accent: "Get her things! Her jewelry, her watch, her jacket. Not the book, idiot! What's the point in having a ruined book? Sweet Mary, you're such a moron." Two, understandable, but in a language I knew I'd never even heard, let alone spoken: "Well, now look there, Alanna. It looks like it's worked. And you doubted my abilities."


	2. Chapter 1

Day 1

_Day_ _1_

_Tortall, May 15 _

When I woke, I didn't open my eyes immediately. It was the first time I could recall waking with my eyes still closed. The pain behind my head, throbbing like the endless migraine I had when I was sixteen, kept me from attempting to assess my whereabouts. _Those_ were ages less relevant than the impossible headache I had. I let out a groan, a nice string of multi-lingual curses, and curled up into a ball. The light, and the rain, would just have to wait until I was ready for it.

However, the people that had someone ended up next to me weren't going to wait. There was a heated argument going on with at least three voices. I slowly opened my eyes. I still wish I'd kept them shut just a little longer.

I wasn't anywhere I'd ever seen before. I wasn't in the park, at the University, at any kind of normal hospital, and if I could make a guesstimate in the short time I had, nowhere in Dublin. I was in some kind of stone room, all elegantly draped with tapestries and cloth. The room was magnificently decorated, beautiful to my eye, if not many others'. There were chairs with silk embroidered cushions, elegantly carved in the same style as the tables, which were clothed with handmade lace. The room itself was enormous, with an equally enormous fireplace to accompany it, currently unused. I was lying on a matching couch to the chairs. There were six or seven people in the room. Three of them were crowded together, barely keeping their voices down, obviously in a heated argument. A couple guards by the door were watching, amused. A woman was sitting in the chair next to my couch, acting like my husband's mother, watching all in the room at the same time. The only problem (other than the thing about not knowing where the hell I was) was that all of this felt too familiar.

I jumped up, ignoring the wave of nausea that hit me. "Holy Mother of Jesus in her throne of clouds! Where am I? No! No. No. No no no no. Don't say anything. Because if you tell me where I am and it happens to be where I think I am and with whom I think I'm with, I'm not sure I'll actually be able to handle it. So let's all just not say anything until Beth has a chance to get a grasp on the fact that she was mugged and hit over the head with some rather heavy object. And then we can discuss the topic of not being dead because of said heavy object, or the one of mysterious disappearance from the park. Capito, tutti? Cool." Once all the energy of panic had left me, there was nothing I could do but collapse again onto the couch, moan and clutch onto my head.

There was a rush of commotion and a shout of several orders and then it was so much better. There was water on my face, and a cool, healing sensation on my head. My headache slowly melted away. I wasn't sure if what they were doing was natural but at the time I couldn't care less. I just listened to the unfamiliar voices and accents and words. I understood it all but I could honestly say I'd never heard the language before. Not on television, not in person, not anywhere. And as one of the former students of the leading linguistic specialist, that was quite a feat. The two women were crouching close to me. The younger was the shorter, and the better built. She had flaming red hair and very purple eyes. My mind decided to skip to the other woman. She was older, more homely. She could be considered plain if you didn't see her eyes, a fabulous gray, giving the rest of her the perfect touch. The former was kneeling with her hands on the back of my head. The latter was washing my face with sweetly smelling water.

The two men, who had been arguing with the younger redhead, were now going through a giant pile of books I'd missed before, mumbling to themselves and each other. Both were tall and carried power like a politician. The one on the left had the classic looks with just a bit more, making him dangerously handsome, with his cobalt blue eyes, his Snow-White-black hair, and his person in general. The other was taller than his companion but lacked his heart-stopping looks. Not that he didn't have something of his own. He was more the guy I went for, cute, not beautiful, a little more fun than serious, responsible and playful. God, I missed Felipe. I shoved him out of my mind, as I'd done for two years.

I sat up this time, slowly, less panicked. I knew where I was, there was no doubt about it. I'd believed in this kind of thing happening, for twenty years of my life. And once I finally stopped believing, it happens. Unless … these people are lookalikes with wigs and costumes and really good colored contacts. Which was just as likely. Actually, more. "Ok. Ok. ….. So. I have two theories. First, it's near impossible for me to actually be here. Ok. Not here, because obviously I am, but in this book. I cannot be in a book, because Tamora Pierce did not write the Never Ending Story but these books, so in all actuality I should not be here. So that theory scratched out. Now theory number two. You all are just trying to make me go crazy and have found some abandoned castle in the north to dress up in and pretend that you all are the people I read about in my favorite books. Don't worry. I won't even press charges. You've all been so nice to me with water and the cool thing on my head. I really just want to go back to Dublin so I can continue my dried up, endless life of boredom and heartbreaklessness. Sound good?" For the most part, my companions looked confused. Well, they're doing very well at playing the part. These people should not know where Dublin is, or what the Never Ending Story is.

"Really, guys. Just come out with it. I mean, this is just ridiculous. Whatever, the point of this, I don't care. Lets all just kiss and make up and then we can all go home happy. Great." I stood up and started making my way to the door. I missed the looks exchanged.

Prince Charming (I'd nicknamed them all. The dangerously handsome one – Prince Charming. The other guy – My Mr. Darcy. The older woman – Sarah, Plain and Tall. And the last girl, well, she looked too much like Alanna from my books to call her anything else.) called out. "Um, I'm sorry, Miss. Please don't leave. I'm positive you won't like what you find. I think we all should have a conversation. Come – let us sit down." I had been played all my life, tall, short, ugly, beautiful, you name it, he's tried to get into my pants. Not once did I ever give in to any one of those slick-talking, smooth-as-glass bastards. Now, with a bat of a blue eye from a courteous, gorgeous man, I'm taking his hand and following him like a puppy. Dear Lord, Bethie, what has gotten into you? You need to get laid.

"Now, earlier, you were talking to yourself and I believe you called yourself Beth? Is that right? Miss Beth … ?"

"Uh, actually it's Elizabeth, but I really don't like Elizabeth, and for awhile I went by Liz but my Grandma called me Beth and when my husband met her – well, it's just Beth. Beth Martinez."

"Mrs. Beth Martinez, it is a pleasure. I am … for now you may call me Jon." He held out his hand.

Oh, Jesus. I knew where this was going. I just don't what I'm going to do. Breath, Jon is quite the normal name, why, I'd even dated someone name Jon, once. I put out my hand and started to shake, when he brought it up to his lips. I didn't blush. I _did_ stare.

"Mithros! Can we just get on, please? I want this girl to as angry with _him_" Alanna turned and pointed to My Mr. Darcy, "as I am. What _were_ you thinking?"

"Shakith, Alanna, you know _exactly_ what I was thinking! It's not like I _meant_ to bring her here from wherever she came from. I cannot say I have any clue. I've never heard of Dublin. I've travelled quite far, you see, Mrs. Martinez. Though, I've never made it past the Roof of the World. And you have quite strange clothing, as well. Perhaps, you come from that way? There isn't much documentation on that area of the world. Well, there _is_ – "

"Please, Numair. We are trying to make sense of this mishap without frightening the poor woman out of her wits." Sarah, Plain and Tall, was my kind of gal.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm already so stunned that nothing could scare me right now. Well, perhaps if Voldemort popped out of a can, or Gollum crawled out from beneath a rug – Oh! But wait, those are the wrong books. Beth, keep the books you're in straight, silly girl." Sigh. Too bad Felipe wasn't here right now. He would've found that reasonably humorous. It's obviously lost on these people.

"Now Mrs. Martinez. None of us are sure from where you come, but we regret that you came here against your will. The three of us" Jon gestured to himself, Alanna, and – Oh God, I must admit it – Numair, "were doing a spell and something went wrong, and instead of accomplishing what we hoped, we inadvertently brought you here. We are immensely sorry. Please, accept our apologies."

"Now wait just a second, Jon. I will not be apologizing for anything I didn't do. This was all Numair's fault, obviously. I was all for working out this on our own, without the use of some obscure, ancient spells. But, no-oh-oh. Mister "I'm a Black Robe, and I know what I'm doing" here insisted that this was much faster, much easier. Oh, there was no way we could mess it up. Of course not. We didn't mess it up, Numair. We just brought some delusional girl from someplace called Dublin into my _sitting_ _room_!"

Jon crossed over to the furious Alanna to begin comforting her. Numair looked like he didn't know what to do. Sarah, Plain and Tall, had left to … well, I think it was to get more water, but perhaps it was to get out of the way of Alanna. I mean, I'd _read_ about her temper but experiencing it in the flesh and blood, well, that was entirely different. I stood up, feelings loads better. Jon and Alanna didn't notice, or they didn't care. Numair did and started to protest. "Nu-uh, mister. I don't think so. I have to get up sometime and now is as good as ever. And don't beat yourself up over whatever bit of magic you did to mess this or that up. I mean, yeah, here I am most certainly not in Dublin, or Ireland, or I'm guessing even on Earth. Actually I'm probably not in the Milky Way. Actually … I think I need to think about this as not like Asimov's Robot world, but more like Narnia, or Philip Pullman's worlds. Because you see, I can not be in the same … um … lets come up with a name for this … universe doesn't cut it … time is too general … mother fu – ok, ok, lets call it dimension. I know that actually really doesn't work at all, and I'm sure many scientists would argue me on that – if I wasn't put in the loony bin first, because lets face it, I was transported into a book – but it's all that's gonna work for now, k? Anyway. Let me continue thought number two so I can get back to my original point." Numair looked … well, I'm not sure what he looked. A lot of things, interested – no, fascinated, confused, a little taken back, I'm sure.

"Just trust me on this one, dude. So … right. I could not be in the same dimension as where I was before because things happen here that just cannot happen there. Like … magic, and monsters, and real gods. Many would say those things exist from where I come but … they don't. I once thought they did, but now I know that that, that … _place_ … is too full of hatred and pain and endless cruelty to have such -." I stopped, remembering everything that had happened, everything that I could not remember for fear of falling apart all again. I began again, mumbling to myself, "No. No no no. Beth, Back to point. Back. Right, so, Numair. Jesus. Ok. You are Numair Salmalín. Jeez. It's ok. I mean, you got me out of that world of … everything. So I mean, it's ok. I'm gonna miss studying my languages, but that's it. And … and, it's not like there's anyone there to miss me, so really, you picked a good person to transport to your … dimension. Unless, that's totally not what you were trying to do, which is totally possible. Which, well, sorry for screwing it up?"

He looked at me for about ten seconds, and then burst into laughter. I wasn't exactly sure what part of what I said was all that funny but, apparently he thought so. And did for quite a long time. Even Alanna and Jon came over to see if he was okay.

"Oh don't worry; he's just off his rocker, that one." Once again, my jokes were lost on them. Sigh.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my dear," Numair was still laughing but he had gathered most of his wits about him. He took my hand, not to kiss it, but to just hold it, "You are quite a woman. I wasn't sure what to do with myself throughout your entire speech. I was quite taken back. I haven't been so in many years. Please accept my apology."

"Well, sure. I mean, it's not like it's uncommon. Or, well it used to not be uncommon." I broke off awkwardly here, realizing at last how pitiful my life had really become. I cleared my throat, trying to signal to someone that, yes, it was time to save Beth from saying something else stupid.

Sarah, Plain and Tall (who I _thought_ was _maybe_ Elaine Cooper, but she _could_ be Maude, so I continued to call her SPT) came back with a tray of wonderful looking food that smelled just as good. Then, without ado, she instructed me to eat and I put up no protest.

As I ate, Numair, Jon and (dear God, I _must_ be going mad) Alanna had a slightly more civilized conversation about what exactly had gone wrong with their magic. At first, I tried to listen. Because if you're suddenly transported into your favorite novel and you know every little detail about these rather powerful people standing right in front of you, wouldn't you be interested? But the food that had been given to me was, surprisingly for the times, delicious. In my… _dimension_, the equivalent of this dimension's time would've been the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. Which were reputed to have _awful_ provisions, for everyone, not just the peasants.

Instead of thinking about trying to get home, or actually freaking, I compared my dimension to the one in which I was currently stuffing my face. I concluded that I was on the brink of a major breakdown, but it just hadn't happened yet. Or perhaps it had and this was the result of my crazed and lonely mind. At least breakdowns were slightly more interesting than my current life.

Maude (I'd deducted that this was Maude as she was, one, slightly more bossy than I imagined Elani Cooper to be, and two, I was pretty sure Elani would be in Corus with her husband, while Maude tended to manage the Swoop, where I was positive we were) brought me over a cup of tea, steaming, strong, black tea, with just a splash of milk and I suddenly felt tears in my eyes. I was going to miss Dublin.

There was nothing for me there. Just a grand library and people with the best accents. But I had no friends in Dublin, or really anywhere. Everyone I had once considered family had all died or I had alienated after… everything happened. Dublin though, Dublin was special to me. Felipe had talked for hours about Dublin. The sights, the friendliness of the people, the history, the love. He'd always wanted to go to Dublin, even if it was just on holiday. But we were both in the hole with our finances and Guatemala City isn't the best place to find better work, especially with the recession. So he never made it. But, I promised myself, through the sheet of ice-cold pain, watching him lowered into the ground, that I would go to Dublin. I would live there. I would live there for the rest of my life, for Felipe.

The tears were freely flowing down my face at this point and I did not bring up a hand to wipe at them. This was the first time I'd truly cried for Felipe since the day he died. His mother had watched for my grief, and not seeing that I grieved within, threw me out, claiming I had never loved her son. Never loved her son! I had never loved anything more openly, more wholly, more completely than Felipe. And that is what destroyed me in the end.

The cup of tea from which I had yet to take a drink slipped from my hands, shattered on the stone floor. I didn't notice the tiny shards that pierced into my lower leg. I didn't notice the end of conversation, or the commotion upon realization of what had just happened. I didn't notice Maude's quick work of healing my leg, or Alanna cleaning up the shattered china. I didn't notice the worried look between Numair and the King.

I cried. I let out heart-wrenching sobs that had never been something to call my own before. My Felipe was dead. Gone forever because of stupid drug dealers and their lies. Felipe never was involved with drugs. Never. That did not stop them pinning a deal gone bad on his head, and taking his life. My Felipe was dead. And I was not going to fulfill my promise to him.

I pulled my legs up to my chest and began to rock. I'm unsure how long I was distraught like this. Thinking back it could've been just a few minutes or it could've been three, four hours. I don't know. It doesn't matter now. The four people I'd just met never once left me. Maude, once I'd calmed down to hiccups, pulled me into her arms and I fell fast asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

_Day 2_

_Tortall, May 16 _

When I woke I was no longer in Alanna's sitting room. I'd somehow made it to a warm, delicately furnished bedroom. Everything was very simple, from the quaint bed, to the pretty little armoire. The covers and drapes were all a nice mix of purples and blues, nothing to ornamental or fantastic. Very classy. And very charming.

It was early morning and I found myself wondering if the time zones were different here.

I slowly got out of bed and starting rooting around for some clothes. There were none from my time, of course, and what I could find I was positive I had no idea how to use. I settled for a simple looking dress, without all the laces and buttons. It was cotton, with long sleeves and a full skirt. It was grey. Felipe had always _loved _grey on me. He used to say that it was perfect since it brought of the color in my eyes and hair. I would laugh and point out I had grey eyes and black hair. And he would get that mysterious look in his eyes and say, "Exactly, _querida_. _Ti_ _amo_."

I shook my head and scolded myself for reminiscing. I found some sort of slipper and put those on, hoping that nothing I was wearing was going to be too fancy for the occasion.

Pulling open the door, I took a deep breath and went in search of a kitchen or dining room. The place was so much bigger than I had imagined. Pirate's Swoop had three levels, not including the "basement" and the Baron's practically underground village. I had apparently been put on the third. I figured that the kitchen would be on the first floor, and began on a search for a staircase, keeping my ear tuned to any voices that might be able to help me find my way about this labyrinth. I found a tucked away set of stairs, but because they looked dodgy, and more than a little unsafe, and knowing George probably went somewhere completely different, I kept on. Finally, after turns and doorways and grand tapestries, I found a magnificent set of marble stairs. They reminded me so much of the ones from Hogwarts, I had to remind myself which book I had been transported to. Pictures lined the wall down the stairs, of men, women and beasts. After seeing a man who looked exactly like Alanna, I deduced that they must be the portraits of the fallen that had been in the many battles these people had conducted.

Because of my curious nature, I walked back up the stairs to start from the top. There was Thom, of course, and purple-eyed black cat that I knew was Faithful (or Pounce, depending on the century apparently). I saw a great man, huge and fierce; Liam Ironarm, and a regal oriental man; Si-cham. And from the later wars as well; Rikash, the fierce and proud Stormwing, and a magnificent dragon, Flamewing, Kitten's mother. There were even pictures of people, I'm sure, from the Copper Isles Rebellion. Duke Mequen, and Ochobu, the ancient and great witch. I was in awe of these pictures, and for the first time, realizing that I was truly here, in the universe I had longed to be in for years. It was not a dream, or a hallucination. This was my reality.

I slowly descended down the second set of magnificent stairs, lined with pictures of, this time, the living. I recognized Alanna, King Jonathan, Numair and Maude from yesterday, but there was men and women I had yet to meet but had known my entire life. Daine stood with a pony I knew was Cloud, and I recognized the Queen because of her famed beauty. Alanna's daughter had a label, unlike the others, but her portrait was not actually there, as I'm sure she found suitable for the Spymaster. Coram looked gruff and reminded me of a father, of my father. I smiled just a little sadly and continued to look up at pictures. There were few I could not deduce, perhaps because I couldn't remember what everyone was described to look like, and perhaps because they weren't in the books at all.

I finally made my way down into what I assumed was the entrance hall, looking for something that resembled a kitchen. _This place was big enough to need signs_, I thought. I wandered around on the first floor, coming upon a big room that must be where they eat for big parties, and the biggest library I had ever set foot in, bigger even than the University's in Dublin. My fingers itched to start looking through that grand place but my stomach growled and I was reminded of my original quest.

Just as I started to turn away I heard a clamor from further into the library. A person! They could show me how to get to somewhere with food. I started to look for them, going deeper into the stacks and stacks of books. From the left, I heard some angry mumbling and turned that way.

On the floor, was a disgruntled looking man, books surrounding him, haphazardly thrown about. At first, I thought perhaps he had mistreated these books and felt a flash of anger I hadn't for years. But as he began to pick himself up I realized that they had fallen around him as he had grabbed for another.

He hadn't noticed me before he started to pick up the poor books. I could tell he was as much of a bibliophile as I was as he loving stroked their covers and pressed their pages back into the right positions. I walked over and bent down to help. That was when he noticed me.

The man let out a shout and clipped my chin with the top of his head. I fell back, groaning, as he started apologizing and rushed over to help me up. I sat up rubbing the side of my face, hoping that nothing was seriously broken.

"Oh miss, I'm so sorry." The man looked utterly mortified. It wasn't like I hadn't been knocked over before. In fact, I'd been knocked over several times, many with much worse consequences than this, and no one had ever apologize let alone looked like they needed to take their own life just to keep their honor.

I held out a hand and he helped me up. "It's quite alright. I'm peachy. _I'm _sorry I startled you. Let me help with the rest of these books." I smiled, hoping to show him that I was just fine, but the motion backfired and caused me to wince.

"Oh no! I hurt your face! I am a Healer, please, I can make it better." The poor man turned my face away so that he was looking at the side that had been bruised. Suddenly, I felt warmth on the pain and after just a moment, the pain was gone. I had read, many times, too many times, about this magic but it still shocked me that it was so easily fixed, even if it was just a small bruise.

I touched my cheek, still astounded, and looked up at the man that had just fixed me. I looked at him properly, noting the color of his hair (flaming red) and his eyes (hazel). He was wearing a set of glasses that had slipped down to the end of his nose and a slightly worried look on his face. Suddenly my heart jumped to my throat and my little smile of thanks slipped off my face. His eyes were looking into mine as if he were looking into my soul. No one had ever looked at me like this. No one except –

"Thom? Thom, I heard a shout. Is everything all right?" A new voice called out to us from the main aisle of the book stacks. Thom cleared his throat and I jumped back startled and annoyed with myself for allowing myself to be startled.

"Da? You're back?" Thom walked out to find the source of the voice and I started to put the books that were still lying haphazardly on the floor back into their rightful positions.

"Sorry, Da. This woman gave me fright. Everything is fine."

"Is that so? Where is this woman you speak of?" I heard the exchange and the dryness of George's voice. I scowled. They came around the corner as I managed to wipe the angry glare off my face.

"Hullo. I'm George Cooper, Baron - "

"Of Pirate's Swoop. Yes I know." My temperament was generally better but I hadn't eaten in _hours_ and lack of regular meals made me just a bit cranky.

"Oh ho! So you have heard of my fame?" George had a little mischief in his eye.

"If reading about you and your exploits from the time you were sixteen is hearing of your fame, then yes. I have." I turned on my heel and began picking up books again. Thom choked back a bit of laughter as incredulous noises came from George.

Just as I'd finished George apparently had thought of something to say, "So there are books on me then?"

As I walked past him I muttered, "Not in this dimension." And walked straight out.

Thom ran after me with a slight grin on his face, "Please! Wait. I want to thank you for being the first person since my Ma to leave my Da speechless."

I didn't look at him, didn't want to have that … moment again. "Anytime."

"Wait! Stop walking like a priestess of the Goddess late to a ritual. I don't even know your name."

I turned and snarled, "Look, pal, I haven't eaten in ages and if you don't want me to knock your sorry butt from here back to Dublin, I'd suggest you leave me alone or find me some food." I was annoyed by the lack of food, but also, I thought, by the dusty feelings invoked in me by this man.

He, unlike his mother, seemed to be very even tempered and instead of shouting or using his Gift on me, he laughed, bowed and holding out his arm, said, "Milady?"

Thirty minutes later I was much happier, having eaten and pushed the memories of my moment with Thom in the library to the back of my mind. He had led me to a smaller sitting room than the one I had been in the day before and had returned just minutes later with steaming porridge and tea. I thanked him sincerely, and tucked in.

"Ma won't be up at this hour – she loves her sleep. Besides Da said he was going to see her straight away, and _that's_ not something either of us would want to interrupt." I smirked. If only this mage knew how much _I_ knew. "Uncle Numair will be sleeping as well. Uncle Jon _should _be awake but I'd rather not bother him. He's a monster in the morning." Thom grinned. I smiled back. He had a very nice smile.

"Maude'll be in real quick though. She's bringing you some special potion of hers. Don't ask. Just drink it." I laughed at that one.

"My name's Beth. I'm sorry we skipped introductions. I'm… not from around here. It's a bit difficult to explain. You're Thom."

"Yeah." There was a brief bit of awkward silence.

"How's your sister doing? The books – er – I never really – um – knew how she was doing after the coronation of Dove, I mean, Doversary Balitang, the Queen of the Copper Isles." I scrambled to not confuse him too much with my source of knowledge and went for the vague.

He looked a little taken aback. "You knew my sister was involved with the Copper Isles Rebellion? Barely _anybody_ knows that."

Oh crap. Couldn't I have picked someone slightly more known? Less spy, more hero? Really Beth, your foresight is astounding.

"Yeah… uh… I heard about it somewhere…" Great cover-up. He's totally gonna buy that one.

He got a slightly suspicious look. "Where? The don't walk around talking about the spymasters of rebellions in the streets, you know?"

I sighed. "I can't tell you now. You'd just be immensely confused and then there'd be all this trouble. Just… assume that I am literally the only one in this dimension that knows about it that shouldn't."

Suddenly, there was a ball of purple-black fire in his hand and he was towering over me. "Are you a spy for the Jindani? You will be punished traitor!"

I, too, leapt up, scambling to get away from the growing ball of flame in his hand. "Woah. Woah. Calm down. Am I a spy for who? I'm not a spy! I couldn't spy for the life of me. I have no ability to lie or hide my emotions in the least!"

He seemed to grow even more incensed by this. "Do not try to escape! I will reveal you!" He started to mutter under his breath, in a language I could not understand.

"Thom Cooper! Put that magic away this instant! What are you doing frightening our guest? She has been through quite enough this past day." Maude walked in and I breathed a sigh of relief. She would help with this situation.

"Maude, this woman knows of Aly and her involvement with putting Dove on the throne in the Copper Isles! _No one _knows about that but the family!"

"Thom, she is not from this world. You mother and that daft mage pulled her from some other trying to contact Si-cham from the grave." Maude looked stern, scary.

"She's not from this world?" Thom gaped. "What world is she from? There are other worlds?" Jeesh. You'd think with all their magic and great books, they'd have some knowledge of other worlds. Not that we had any knowledge that one could be _pulled _into a _book_ but that's beside the point.

"Look. All I can say is that where I'm from, your mother's story, and Daine's and Kel's, and Aly's are all written down in books. There's even a few on your ancestor, Beka Cooper. I don't know how the author became aware of your story or what she wrote is all that actually happened but so far everything seems to line up quite nicely. That's how I know about Aly. And quite a few other things as well."

I continued to eat my porridge, delighted that it tasted just like what Felipe made me when… I skipped that thought as it was even more painful than the thought of Felipe. Both Thom and Maude were silent and when I glanced up to see what the problem was they were both gaping at me.

"What? It's the god-honest truth. Seriously. Ask me a question about any of them. I'm 75% positive I'll know the answer." I looked expectantly at them. They continued to stare at me.

"Ooook. Maude, when Alanna and Thom, senior," I looked apologetically at Thom. It must get a bit confusing with all that. "Came to you asking you to help them switch places, you said you needed to ask the Gods. So you did. By throwing vervaine into the fire, even though the Sight is not your power. I don't know what you saw, but Alanna saw the Black City, even though the spell was not hers. You said that the Gods had deemed it to be and helped Alanna to disguise herself as Thom as she went with Coram. As you were cutting her hair, you told her that she was going to be doing a lot of killing and to make up for it she would have to Heal, since the Gods had given her that power.

"Thom, I know much less about you. I do know though, that when you were young, four or maybe five, Daine came to Pirate's Swoop and along with the Prince and Princess you followed her everywhere, helping with all the animals. During the attack, while Numair was holding up the magic dampeners, you tucked a teddy bear into his arms because," I smiled warmly, thinking of my nephew that used to do that exact same thing. "Teddy bears are immensely comforting."

They continued to gape and I sighed and went back my porridge. Finally a shaky voice, Maude, said, "How do you know that? No one but Alanna and I know that. And how do you know she saw the Black City. She never told _anybody_ about that."

I rolled my eyes. "I told you. I read about it. A woman in my dimension wrote about it. All of Alanna's time training in Corus and up through her defeat of Duke of Conte'. As well as from the time Daine was found in Cri'a by Onua up through the end of her battle with Crazy Ozorne. Same with Kel and Aly. Of course, some bits were left out, seeing as it's a book and not a movie of every second of their lives. But still. I know all the important parts."

They still looked shocked and I just gave up. I couldn't explain this again. I'd go hoarse. "Just, whatever, ok? It's not that big of a deal. Forget I ever talked about it. And please don't accuse me of being a spy again. My heart won't take it a second time."

I settled back, losing myself in my thoughts, while the other two seemed to do just about the same thing.


	4. Chapter 4

_Day 2 _

_Tortall, May 16_

We'd been in silence past the awkward amount. It was now frigid, so far beyond the point when someone could legitimately break it. The sound of Thom tapping his fingernails in thought, Maude moving around, organizing, messing, me sipping at my tea. I didn't actually know what I was going to do once I finished. There wasn't anything _for_ me to do, not that I could imagine. It had been years since I woke up in the morning without anything to do, I was quite at a loss.

For lack of anything better, and because I really wanted to get back into that library now that I could concentrate on something other than my stomach, I cleared my throat. "Uh… Well… Thanks for breakfast and… that… whatever it was you gave me. Um, I'm going to… leave. Kay. Bye."

And before they could stop me, I bolted out of the room in search of that library. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been that inarticulate. Probably sometime back in high school, maybe when I met Felipe.

Felipe and I both had been so young when we met. He was just starting Community College, I was finishing off high school, excited for some brand new world…

* * *

_Six Years Earlier _

_Monroe, Utah_

_Graduation_

"Mom, I'm going to go find Mr. Jones."

"Did you get a picture with Alice?

"Of course, Mom. I'll be right back."

I took off down the hall. I'd already talked to Mr. Jones. I'd done my pleasantries as a student and all that. I wanted to find Ben. My mom didn't like Ben. Ben was one of those boys that didn't have any real ambitions in life and blah blah blah. He was still like my brother though and I loved him.

He was out by the bike rack where we always used to meet, before he dropped out. I ran up to him and gave him a hug, completely missing the other person there with him. Hey, a girl is allowed to miss her best friend.

"Ben, I swear, if we ever go that long without talking again I'm gonna slap you instead."

"Ah, Lizzie, you know you could never hit me."

I tried to look disgruntled but couldn't hide the big ass smile that was slapped on my face. "Yeah, yeah shuddup."

I finally noticed the other person standing there. He was Hispanic, wearing sensible jeans and a hoodie. But what got me was the fact that one of his eyes was brown and the other was a bright green.

"Hi. I'm Lizzie. Sorry bout… that." I laughed a little nervously, his hand left mine tingling.

"I'm Felipe."

Ah. I knew that name. "You're the guy that got Ben his G.E.D.! You are my personal hero! Come here, you need a hug."

I squeezed him as he started protesting. "No, I just helped him study and such."

"Dude. Exactly. Ben doesn't study." I sent a look at Ben who was watching this exchange with raised eyebrows.

Felipe stepped back clearing his throat. I bounced over and started chattering meaningless to Ben. I was completely aware of the boy I had just met. I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck, on my face as I slipped glances at him. I had never been so in tune with another person I just met. It was terrifying.

"Lizzie?"

"Hmm?"

"Shut up. Talking nonstop about some bitch named Meghan is not going to distract either of us from the fact that you think Felipe is smokin' hot."

I sputtered as Ben laughed at his own joke and Felipe turned red.

"Ben… you just…. Need to…. Stop. Now. Just stop now." As I flushed and dug myself into an even deeper hole, I prayed, for the first time in my life, that my mother would come find me and drag me back into a stupid social function. And because the likely hood of her finding me behind the school by the bike rack was so small I improvised. "I'm… I… My mother… will be looking for me. I need to go. Goodbye. It was nice to meet you, Felipe. I hate you, Ben." And I took off once again down the halls, this time running away.

_

* * *

Tortall_

Ha. To think that _that_ girl, the one who ran away, would marry that boy. And that there wouldn't be a couple happier in all of the world than those two scared little creatures meeting just outside of Monroe High School by the damn bike rack.

I smiled sadly to myself. The memories of that summer with those two were some of the most precious. And because of that, they hurt even more every time I allowed myself to drift back.

I found myself in a hallway I'd hadn't been in before. It was less homey than the ones near the room where I'd slept and the main corridor. I felt vaguely like I was walking into Snape's dungeon. I had gone on too long wishing to be able to compare my life to this book and now that I was in it, it seemed that I was going to now turn to every other fantasy novel I'd ever read.

I continued walking, distantly wondering if I should perhaps try to find my way back, or at least someone to point me in the right direction. But then there was light, more than the little patches coming through the tiny skylight windows and I had to continue.

As I rounded the corner to see what the source of the light was I felt my chest squeeze and my heart jump up to my throat. I paused wondering how a twenty-four year old could possibly be having a heart attack and then realized that this was something entirely different. I was excited. I was _excited_. I hadn't been looking forward to … anything, especially something this mundane, in years. In much too long.

If I'd still been in Dublin I would've said, Well that's because everything you have left for which to look forward is gone, but now that I was here… well I didn't believe it as much.

I shook the dark thoughts out of my head, and nearly sprinted around the last remaining bit of corridor. And then I think my heart did stop. Tears sprung immediately to my eyes and I felt my jaw slowly lower. The sight before me was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. The mountains of Guatemala and the hills of Ireland and the rocky deserts of Utah could not compare to this coastline.

The best part was that I could _see _it all. It wasn't crowded with hotels like in California or with people like in Mexico. I could see all the way past the cliffs to the actual beach that turned back into cliffs miles down. And when I looked right there was more. It was one of those perfect days where the water sparkled and the beach just beckoned for you to come and play.

But I couldn't. I wouldn't ever be able to play in the water again. Because those memories hurt too.

"I remember the first time I stood at that window." I jumped and spun around to see Alanna. "I'd seen the ocean before of course. I'd even seen it from this area but it wasn't until I looked through that window that I had actually seen anything."

"I'm sorry. I got lost and ended up here." It was just so _strange_ every time I ended up talking to one of these storybook characters. She reached out and turned my face towards hers and I finally got a chance to study her. She was older than I pictured but I had read about her during her teens and early twenties so this was something that needed to be expected. _Ha. Expected. Because everyone _expects_ to be thrown into their favourite childhood tale._

Her hair was gorgeous, kept just short enough so it was out of the way but still complemented her. And her eyes. They were stern, intelligent and at the present searching for something from me.

"Mrs. Martinez, I don't ever want to hear you apologize for something so stupid again. I should be begging your forgiveness, throwing myself at your feet. I can't imagine what we've done to you, what it is you're going through. Numair, Jon and I are desperately looking for a way to get you back to your home and until – "

"Wait! No. I… don't want to go back. Sure I'll miss things like _How I Met Your Mother_ and mochas but… there's no one there for me. I… my husband died two years ago… and my parents are dead… and my sister hasn't talked to me in… almost five years. I have no life there. I felt something, I _felt_ how beautiful that beach is," I gestured widely out the window. I was starting to get hysterical again. "Please don't send me back. I can't live there. I'll… if you don't want me here I can leave, I'll figure something out, please, just don't make me go back to my world. I can't…"

Alanna's hand came up to my face again, and I could feel her calming me, the magic helping me to catch my hyperventilated breath. She pulled me into her and I just breathed deep until I felt like I wasn't just going to fall over.

I cleared my throat. "Um. Sorry about that."

"Mrs. Martinez –"

"Please, it's Beth."

"Then Beth, if you don't want to return we cannot make you. Frankly, it would be easier on us as well. We don't exactly have the time to find a way to cross… what did you call it? Dimensions? We're still trying to do what we originally were when you showed up and the Jindani are getting more powerful by the day."

"Who exactly are the Jindani?" I asked. "They weren't ever mentioned in the… uh… ever."

"Well, they've just recently been a big part of our life in the Western Lands. Of course, explorers and seamen have been to this land but they are much further away than Galla or Carthak. If you go past the Copper Isles, and then again for another month, there is a group of people called the Jindani. I've never been, too much time on an ocean but according to accounts the lands are beautiful. Warm waters, something scholars have been calling rainforests. It is supposed to be hot almost all year round.

"Anyway, Tortall, and everyone else, began trading with them. They have this, well, I'm not sure what it is exactly, I think it's a vegetable but they make flour out of it. You'd have to talk to Miles or Numair about it to get all the details. It's called – "

"Corn, right? It's long and has little yellow kurnels?" I couldn't help myself. If the Western Lands was the Europe of Earth then these Jindani people were the Indians. Or sounding by the climate, the Mayans.

"You know too much for being so young."

She sounded like my professor, before I alienated him. He used to say, "You've seen too much pain for being so young." Not quite the same concept but definitely the same sad, a little condescending tone.

"Well, lately, we've been having problems with them. The Queen of the Copper Isles was to wed one of the tribes more elite princes but there was some confusion as _very _few people speak their language. And now, well, we think, they're beginning to prepare for war. And, we can't get any spies into their society because none of our spies can understand them. It's quite a difficult language to learn as well. It is nothing like any of the others we've come across before."

"There are no scrolls on the language?" It puzzled me to think of a language no one could learn.

"No. The only people that have ever ventured that far out into the Emerald Sea before a year ago were travelers and seamen. We have about two scrolls on the subject but they are all in the language and no one can seem to decipher them. Not even Numair!"

I gaped. From everything I read about him he _was_ the scholar of this world. He and Sir Miles of Olau, Alanna's adopted father. "_Numair_ can't. What about your father? No one?"

"No one. We've placed people in their society to learn it but that takes time and we have run out. Anyway, we were trying to bring Si-cham back because he is the one that wrote the scrolls and the only known, living or dead, scholar to ever have studied their language and culture."

"And you got me. Worthless strange me."

Alanna knelt down as if she were talking to a child. "You, my dear, could never be worthless. We will find you a place here, especially if you wish to stay."

I nodded my head emphatically. "Please. I can, crochet, and sew a little. And I've worked with loads of farm animals before! I'm grand with housework, too. Maybe I could help Maude around the castle, or whatever you call it."

She smiled warmly. "Of course you can. We'd be happy for anything you can do. However, not now," her tone changed to stern, motherly. My heart ached, if only I could have the instinctual, motherly tone. "You still need to rest up from your… well, I believe we can call it a journey. I don't want to see you anywhere but your room and the dining room for at least a week!"

I giggled. She sounded so serious. "Can't I at least go to the library? My hands are _itching_ to get on my good reading material."

She laughed, and held out a hand. "You and my son are too much alike. Of course. Let us go find him and he can show you how to get to the library." She said I helped her to her feet.

* * *

Once we found Thom he led me to the library. I was entranced. It was an amazing thing. The shelves went on forever and the fires were perfect for reading or studying. However, I couldn't get what Alanna had said about the Jindani out of my head. How was it that in a year _no one_ had learned the Jindani language? Or how was it that some of the Jindani hadn't learnt any Common?

I was brooding in a cozy armchair, a book laying unopened and unnoticed in my lap. I didn't notice Thom studying me either. "Is everything all right? Your book isn't finished already is it?"

I snapped my head up, startled, having forgotten he was even there. "Oh. Oh no. I haven't even started it. I'm just… preoccupied."

He smiled sadly a little. "With home? Do you miss your family?"

"I… I don't have any family. Or friends. I don't really have a home. All I had was my big ass library and hundreds of language charts to study and theorize about. I loved that. Studying the rules and the history and the tiny nuances of Latin, Chinese, Arabic. It was all so beautiful. It was the only thing that kept me going at home." I'm not sure why I opened up so completely to the stranger. Maybe it was because he didn't feel all that strange to me.

"I'm sorry. This is the selfish part of me speaking but… I'm glad you're here."

I blushed deep red. I hadn't been complemented so sweetly in… years. Since Felipe.

I cleared my throat. "So… Thom. Your mother was explaining the problem with the Jindani before."

He cleared his throat too and pinked up a bit. "About that… I'm sorry I thought you were a spy. We're all just so on edge with them now. We're just counting the days until they figure out our language or just attack head on. They have some of the best, purest, magic in the land. It'd be mad to fight all of us but they seem a little so. I just wish someone could figure out Jindani! It would –"

He stopped suddenly and looked at me. He looked a little excited and frightened at the same time. "Beth. You said, in your world, you were a linguist right?"

"Yeah, I had just finished my doctorate. What does that have to do with the Jindani?" But I'd figured it out before the words had completely left my mouth. I'd studied Mayan languages before. I was pretty good in one called Quiche (pronounced Key Chay. it's not a French egg tart) because Felipe's mother was from the Quiche region of Guatemala. And even if it had nothing to do with Mayan languages I'm sure I could figure it out. I had spent _years_ of my life developing the skills to do this exact sort of thing.

I was on my feet in a split second. "Oh. Oh my God. What was I thinking! Obviously I wasn't or… Oh my God! Thom, I need scrolls on the Common language right now." Before I went to Alanna promising I could help, I wanted to know just how difficult of a thing I was getting myself into.

Thom dashed off into the depths of the library and I paced. If I could actually figure out this language, then my life would have some meaning again! I wouldn't be sitting around in a dusty library studying ancient books and manuscripts. I would have done something other than a 22 year old widow and orphan with a family that won't speak to her and no life.

He appeared back suddenly, panting, with heaps of scrolls and books. I flipped through them as quickly as I could. I quickly deduced that Common was essentially the French of this world. It was different, but similar enough that I was able to understand everyone perfectly. The grammar seemed to be exactly the same. If Jindani was as close to ancient Mayan and Common was as close to French this would be a piece of cake.

"You're smiling. That's a good thing right? That you're smiling?"

I leapt up and gave him a gigantic hug, the I-finally-have-a purpose-in-my-life-and-even-better-that-purpose-is-going-to-save-your-world hug. Alanna, Numair, Jon and George walked in at that moment. I can only imagine how that must've looked. The stunned son standing there with the deranged girl from another dimension latched onto him in the middle of the library. I leapt back immediately and in my embarrassment forgot what exactly it was I was excited about.

George was the first to say anything. "Well, things seemed to have progressed much further than I thought they would. Good on you son." He winked at Thom, making the poor man turn an even brighter shade of maroon.

I started mumbling again, trying to explain that nothing had happened when I remembered. "Oh! Oh my God! I have something to tell you! Wait. Where are those scrolls? The ones on Jindani. I need to look at them right away." When I got excited, truly excited I tended to forget many important details and at that point I couldn't care less. I just needed to see those scrolls. I needed to know if all of this was going to be worth it.

Jon, a little stunned to say the least, held out a scroll. I snatched it up and almost tore it open in my haste to get to the writing. And then I began to laugh. Almost hysterically.

You must understand. My life had gone wrong for so long, for too long and all of a sudden I was in a library with the people of my dreams and everything was going… right.

Everyone was exchanging worried looks, except Thom who, poor lad, still looked embarrassed.

"Sir Alanna, Baron Cooper, King Jonathon, er… Mage… Salmalín, I… can help you with your current problem."


End file.
